FAQs

A land trust is a nonprofit organization that conserves land by acquisition or by holding conservation easements. Not all land trusts operate exactly the same, but in Sycamore’s case, we don’t just acquire the land and hope everything turns out ok. We manage active restoration projects, monitor wildlife and plant health, and build trails on certain public preserves for health and enjoyment. Land trusts are currently the fastest-growing segment of the conservation community, with over 1,700 land trusts across the U.S. The Land Trust Alliance serves as an umbrella organization for land trusts, and Sycamore Land Trust is a member of the Alliance.

It’s no secret that climate change affects all of us. While the impacts seem to be increasing, people are coming together in great numbers to solve the problems we face. Land conservation is an important part of this response, because protecting nature is one of the best ways to ensure a healthy climate. Land conservation projects that are strategic about the types of habitats they protect can have tremendous impacts, such as:
clean water; healthy soil for farming; increased biodiversity, which strengthens ecosystems; more habitat options for endangered and protected species; healthy native plants for pollinators, on which our crops depend; clean air from mature forests; balanced ecosystems free from the effects of invasive species; Learn more about how we protect land.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values. It allows the landowner to continue to own and use his/her land and to sell it or pass it on to heirs, with the restrictions in place.

Our service area includes 26 southern Indiana counties, from Martinsville down to the Ohio River, and from Vincennes in the west to New Albany in the east. Our service counties are Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dubois, Daviess, Floyd, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Scott, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick, and Washington.

Sycamore protects many different types of land. Each property is evaluated individually after careful consideration of its resources and qualities. Depending on the property, sometimes one factor alone is significant enough to merit protection, such as critical habitat for rare and threatened wildlife or plants. Other times several factors contribute to the property’s conservation value. Generally, we consider whether a property:
1. Includes important natural habitat for wildlife and plants, or buffers important habitat.
2. Is in a relatively natural, undisturbed condition.; is adjacent or close to land already protected by Sycamore.
3. Is adjacent or close to public land or other permanently protected private land.
4. Is in active farming or other agricultural use.
5. Includes or protects a significant river, stream or wetland.
6. Is large enough that its conservation values will likely remain intact despite possible future changes in adjoining land use.